By: A double-digit lead was down to one point in the fourth quarter, but Illinois College hit big shots in the closing minutes to earn a 66-57 win at Cornell.
Box Score MOUNT VERNON, Iowa – The Illinois College women's basketball team held off a hard-charging comeback effort from Cornell College to come away with a 66-57 win on Tuesday night in the Midwest Conference opener for each team. The Lady Blues improve to 3-0 (1-0 MWC) with the victory while Cornell drops to 0-2 (0-1 MWC).
The first quarter was a bit of a grind as the referees called it tight and both teams racked up fouls. Cornell hit a three-pointer to take a 6-2 lead and the Rams would hold the lead throughout the remainder of the quarter.
Jill Friedrich scored late off of a Cornell turnover to trim the deficit to 12-8, but the Rams found Diamond Boyd for a layup at the horn to make it 14-8 after 10 minutes.
Illinois College took command of the game in the second quarter, outscoring the Rams 25-11 going into the break. After the Lady Blues scored the opening bucket,
Melissa Solorio banged in a three-pointer to pull within 14-13. Later on,
Alyssa Garde swished in a triple to give IC a 20-18 lead, which was extended to 22-18 on a layup from an inbounds play.
With 3:10 to go in the first half,
Hannah Jostes nailed a three that made it a 27-20 lead for the Lady Blues. Shortly after, Solorio beat her defender with an up-fake and drive to the hoop to give IC a 29-20 edge and the lead at the half was eight, 33-25.
After committing only four turnovers in the first half, Illinois College let Cornell get back into it by committing six in the third quarter alone. Despite some miscues, the lead grew all the way to 12 points at 40-28 following a three-point play from Jostes with 5:07 remaining in the quarter.
As the turnovers mounted, the Rams made their move to get back into the game and it took a pair of free throws from Friedrich in the final seconds to keep the Lady Blues out in front by four, 45-41, going into the fourth quarter.
A three-pointer from Cornell's Tana Kemmer tied the game at 54 with less than five minutes to play in the final quarter, but that's when Illinois College took command. Solorio posted up and wheeled down low to score for a 56-54 lead. On the other end, Boyd had a layup go in-and-out and
Hanna Bergkoetter posted her up on the other end to re-establish a four-point margin.
Boyd would cut the lead in half with under three minutes to go on a steal and layup, but
Sydney Lett made a pair of hard drives that put the game away. The freshman was fouled on the first and made both. Following a steal from Solorio on the other end, Lett finished in the lane to make it 62-56. As time ticked away on Cornell, the Rams were forced to scramble on defense, resulting in two late baskets from Friedrich to ice it.
Solorio ended the game with a team-high 16 points, while Friedrich chipped in 14. Off the bench, Jostes had 13 points and tied for game-high honors with eight rebounds. Garde added nine points from a reserve role, hitting 2-of-3 from downtown.
Illinois College returns to action this weekend at the Midwest Challenge, hosted by Washington University in St. Louis. The Lady Blues will meet the Bears in the opener on Nov. 28 at 3 p.m., and then will meet DePauw or Illinois Wesleyan in either the championship or consolation matchup on Nov. 29.
